Diane Warren photographed in 2018.
Kwaku AlstonSongwriter Diane Warren will receive the Icon Award at the 12th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards on March 20. Mitchell Leib, former president of music and soundtracks for Disney’s live action motion picture division, will receive this year’s Legacy Award.
“We are so happy to be able to honor two individuals who have been vital to the craft of telling stories with music,” Joel C. High, president of the Guild of Music Supervisors, said in a statement. “This is a big year!”
The Icon Award was created to celebrate those who have made legendary contributions to the music and film industry. Previous recipients include Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Kenny Loggins, and Marc Shaiman.
“Thank you, Guild of Music Supervisors, for this amazing honor,” Warren said in a statement. “I see that real icons have received this award previously, and I am proud and humbled to be in their company although I don’t really feel like I am one yet. I feel like I’m just getting started so maybe I’ll be an icon when I grow up if I ever grow up that is! I love writing songs for movies, and I’ve worked with a lot of you on them. There’s nothing like the perfect marriage of the right song in just the right place in just the right movie. I love being a part of it and always will.”
Warren won a Grammy for writing “Because You Loved Me” from the 1996 film Up Close and Personal and an Emmy in 2016 for writing “Til It Happens to You” from the film The Hunting Ground. She has been nominated for 12 Oscars and is vying for a 13th nomination this year for her song “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days. Oscar nominations will be announced on Feb. 8.
The Legacy Award is bestowed to a music supervisor who has made an impact within the industry over the course of their career. Previous recipients include Maureen Crowe, Bob Hunka, Joel Sill, Gary Lemel, and Chris Montan.
“It means so very much to me to be honored by my peers and friends at the GMS and to receive the Legacy award,” Leib said in a statement. “For me, it puts an exclamation point on the closing of this chapter of my professional career as a music supervisor, albeit mostly as a studio music executive at Disney, to whom I will forever be grateful. I started this journey as a rookie independent music supervisor and finish now having achieved every goal imaginable in my wildest dreams.”
The nominees in 16 categories will be announced via a live streaming event on Feb. 10 on the Guild of Music Supervisors’ social media channels across YouTube and Facebook.
Taylor Swift believes Nashville has a music scene that stands apart from anywhere else.
The 36 year old singer moved to Nashville, Tennessee, when she was young to chase her dream of becoming a country music star. After being inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on Monday (26.10.26), Taylor took the opportunity to recognise the city and the talented writers who have helped shape its music scene.
In her acceptance speech, Taylor said: "I believe you really get to master a craft by doing it again and again. That's exactly what the incredible songwriters in this wonderful town do every day."
Taylor also spoke about what makes Nashville such a special place for musicians.
The award winning singer, who ranks among the best selling music artists of all time, said: "You won't find another music community quite like this one. Trust me, I've checked them all."
Taylor also shared how being part of Nashville's songwriting scene had taught her valuable lessons about life and working with others.
She joked: "I've learned to be flexible when your co writer turns up with a hangover, or when they need to spend ages talking about their divorce before we can even get started on a song."
Taylor previously spoke about how Faith Hill and Shania Twain inspired her decision to move to Nashville.
Speaking to Time magazine, the singer said: "I couldn't get enough of watching TV biographies about Faith Hill and Shania Twain, and I realised they had both moved to Nashville to get their careers started. After that, I kept asking, pleading and begging my parents to take me there.
"When I was 11, my mum took my brother and me to Nashville during spring break, and we spent the trip driving around Music Row. She stayed in the car while I rushed into record companies one after another, giving my demo CD to the receptionists. I found it fascinating that so many major record labels were gathered along a single street, often inside little buildings and old houses.
"What really stayed with me was how welcoming people were to newcomers and complete strangers like us. We started visiting Nashville more often, and when I was 13, I received an offer for a development deal from a major record label. That was when my parents finally agreed to leave Pennsylvania and move with me."
